Chapter 6

Beck felt a weight drop onto his shoulders when his film started; the lights in the room were dimmed so the faces of his classmates were undistinguishable. The film stared with a close up Beck's face, he pretended to be on the brink of death as the camera zoomed in on his eye.

The screen filled with images and videos, they flew past at an alarming speed, key ones were slowed but for the most part they were pretty quick. The music started over the speakers, getting louder as it goes on.

"There are places I remember

All my life though some have changed

Some forever not for better"

Beck had no doubt about the song he would choose; it was always his grandfather's favourite. Every time he heard he would think back to his grandfather playing the record in his study. When he wasn't reading To Kill A Mockingbird, he was listening to The Beatles. They would always comfort his grandfather and now they did the same for him.

"Some have gone and some remain

All these places have their moments

With lovers and friends I still can recall

Some are dead and some are living

In my life I've loved them all"

Beck watched on as his photographed self grew up, his toothless grin became a perfect white smirk. His hair got longer, his clothes became cooler, he found his style and stuck with it. Some of the earlier pictures received a collective 'aww' from the class.

"But of all these friends and lovers

There is no one compares with you

And these memories lose their meaning

When I think of love as something new"

The Hollywood Arts phase of photos started; he was many different characters, he was shown with all his different friends, photos of him and Sikowitz caused him to chuckle to himself. Then the Tori phase began.

"Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life I love you more"

From the hundreds of photos he had of Tori and him, he chose the ones that meant the most. One of which was from their trip to New York, when they sat together on a bench in Central Park. The day he knew that no matter what happened, it couldn't be bad with Tori there. The moment he knew he had to propose to her, he had to make her his. Not in a caveman way, just to settle his worries that she might leave him one day.

"Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before

I know I'll often stop and think about them

In my life I love you more

In my life I love you more."

The music slowly fades out, along with the camera. When Tori watched his film, she had told him that it was like the end of Breaking Bad. Though no flattery would have prepared him for the applause that followed the end. As the lights came back on, the weight lifted, with it went all Beck's worries and fears.

That was until he saw his professor's face.

Tori pushed open the door to her new favourite coffee shop, it wasn't quite Central Perk but at least it wasn't Starbucks. Tori despised ordering her coffee size in a language she didn't understand. The place she preferred was understated, the décor was modern but quirky. And the coffee, oh the coffee.

Tori had become a regular since she discovered the place, her favourite place to sit was in the corner, in a fluffy armchair and her own lamp. It was like having a slice of her Grandparent's house right there in New York.

She waited in the line at the cash register, though it was understated, it was not unknown. She didn't have to think about what to order, all the staff just knew. One of the best things about the place was that they would tell the customers where the coffee came from.

It changed every week, the locations fascinated Tori, as did the subtle but undeniable differences in flavour. As she had been informed the day before, this week's coffee was from Brazil. The smell was enough to make Tori want to up and move there.

As her turn to be served came, Tori stepped towards the counter. Behind the counter stood a girl Tori assumed was just over five foot tall, she had short red hair in pigtails that stuck out of the bottom of her skull, a look Tori had nicknamed 'Frankenstein hair'.

"Hey Sally, how's life?" Sally smiled at Tori and went about preparing her coffee. "It's good, we've been real busy today." She slid Tori's cup over the counter and Tori handed her the money, Beck thought the coffees were a little overpriced here, but Tori just rolled her eyes at his arguments.

With a smile Tori turned to make her way to her usual seat. She stopped dead a few feet from it when she saw him, Jared Duncan. The Neanderthal from her music class. He had his feet propped up on a stool and flicked through a magazine entitled 'Cars: a man's best friend.'

With an inward groan and an eye roll Tori looked around for another seat. For the first time ever, she resented the popularity of the shop, and in a clichéd turn of history repeating itself, the only empty chair was next to Jared.

With a forced air of nonchalance Tori sat down in the seat and pulled out her latest literary addiction. Once she found her page she tried to settle down in her chair and not think about how much comfier she knew Jared's was.

Out the corner of her she noticed Jared shift. Damn, he must have seen me, she thought. She mentally prepared herself for the inevitable awkward acknowledgment conversation. A casual nod, or smile, or 'hey, didn't see you there' followed by a silent, 'that was the idea' on her part. However it never came, if he had noticed her, which Tori was 99% sure he had, he didn't make any moves to show it.

Eventually she brought her concentration back to her book and away from the boy with the mystery tattoo. As Tori replaced her cup onto the table next to her, she sent her bookmark flying to the floor. Her eyes followed its path as it sliced through the caffeine heavy air and under Jared's chair.

Tori didn't have to look up to know that he had seen it too. He eyes slowly rose to meet his for a slit second, to her surprise he leaned down beneath his seat and picked it up. With a polite smile he help it up for Tori, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander to his wrist where the un-mistakable letters were scrawled.

His eyes met hers again, a flicker of pain crossed his face and with an uncomfortable shift he handed her the bookmark and fell back into his chair. The magazine wall was replaced and Tori knew the chance was gone, so she returned to her World War One romance novel and pushed the cryptic letters to the back of her mind.

After around another ten minutes of reading, Tori sat on the edge of her seat at a crucial landmark in the plot of her book. Nadine had just seen Riley for the first time in years, his injuries were healing and her heart broke all over again. Tori was desperate to keep reading, a mere two pages till the end. When a hand rested gently on her arm and brought her back to reality.

"My brother was killed in Afghanistan, his name was Michael."

So, here you go! I'm trying to make up for my lack of updates 0:) The song on Beck's film is 'In My Life' by The Beatles, I love them and that song so much, (I think I may be Beck's granddad...) In case you're wondering, the book Tori is reading at the end there is called 'My Dear I Wanted To Tell You' by Louisa Young. anyway, that's all, please review:D

-Dom